A Game Surfing comes to the table as Round 1 concludes, Round 2 repechage heats put the pressure on, and Round 3 draw is announced.
Go to @surfwebseries on INSTAGRAM to vote!
December 10th, 2020 — Round 1 heats, and Round 2 repechage heats have been wrapped up as surfers hoping to progress through to Round 3, were forced into bringing some -A- Game waves to the table.
Fans were treated to 2 heats, 7 surfers in each, and 14 quality waves, as the judges and fans got to work on deciding the top 4 from each heat, to determine who would wake up this morning and be able to breathe a sigh of relief.
As we reported previously, a very strong mixture of current and former Championship and WQS performers are contesting the Surfboard Empire E-Pro Australia, with youngsters, Ned Hart (Featured on our reels video yesterday) and Sammy Lowe notable amongst those securing automatic qualification into the 3rd Round.
However on Tuesday the spotlight fell on the 14 surfers contesting the repechage, and a final chance to avoid elimination.
HEAT 1 Saw Brent Dorrington, Kyan Falvey, Dylan Moffat, Marlon Harrison, Joshua Cabral, Alister Reginato, and Aidan Lewand-Parsons battle it out for the top 4 spots, with quality performances across the board.
Fans voting was very strong and in particular Josh Cabral was encouraged by @surfwebseries fans across the globe, as he came out on top in the popularity stakes, topping the vote, unfortunately for Josh however, it seems our professional judges didnt quite see it that way and missed out by a whisker, finishing 5th in his heat. Other casualties were Kyan Falvey, and Alister Reginato as Dorrington, Moffat, Harrison and Lewand-Parsons went through.
HEAT 2 Featured Grayson Hinrichs, Kobi Clements, Dane Henry, Riley Munro, Hughie Vaughan, Wesley Morais, and Kane Pickard going head to head for the last 4 qualifying spots. Loaded with young up and coming surfers, this heat highlighted the fact that age does not seem to be a limitation in this sport.
Dane Henry showing some of the form that sees him advance to the 3rd Round
We talk about experience, flow, and power in our older surfers, but pound for pound these groms are punching way above their weight.
Future Surf Web Series contests featuring juniors, women and even longboard categories are already planned, and these kids will rock in those events, but don't for a minute underestimate them here in the open category either, look out for some heavy hitters in Round 3.
Standouts, and advancing into the 3rd round were three 14 year olds: Hughie Vaughan, Riley Munro, Dane Henry, and in this case elder statesman 15 year old Kobi Clements!! Grayson Hinrichs, Wesley Morais, and Dane Pickard were the 3 surfers eliminated.
The 2nd Round Highlights package can be seen on the @surfwebseries instagram feed along with all the other updates and don't forget to check out the website www.surfwebseries for all of our detailed updates and news.
Third round heats have now been drawn, and with surfers vying for over $15,000 (AUD) in cash and prizes the intensity and wave quality will go up another notch. We know that the surfers will be delving into the vaults of waves surfed in 2020 to make sure there are no slip ups as we now go into elimination heats.
One wave, one card, one hand, in a format that former surfing Australia head coach Andy King commenting on the Surf Web Series, calls "Surfing Poker.”
Here are your ROUND 3 matchups.
Heat 1: Korbin Hutchings, Ned Hart, Dylan Moffat Kobi Clements
Heat 2: Jordy Turansky, Sammy Lowe, Hughie Vaughan
Heat 3: Jack Reginato, Reef Heazlewood, Brent Dorrington
Heat 4: Liam O’Brien, Matt Banting, Riley Munro
Heat 5: Sheldon Simkus, Joel Vaughan, Marlon Harrison
Heat 6: Billy Kean, Thomas Carvalho, Dane Henry
Heat 7: Jaggar Bartholomew, Kaito Kurokawa, Aidan Lewand-Parsons
Engagement from the audience is an exciting and key feature of SWS events, as fans are encouraged to vote for the winners of each heat via social media commentary on the Surf Web Series’ Facebook and Instagram pages. The surfers and sponsors are also encouraged to rally their fans to vote as they play a very important role as a fifth Judge in the very tight heats.
The Surf Web Series format requires surfers to submit 7 videos of themselves riding waves up to 8ft faces, as moderated by our judges, anywhere in Australia during the 2020 calendar year. Once the clips have been registered with SWS, the heats are drawn, then the surfer decides which one of their 7 waves they want to use in that particular heat. The videos are then edited into a competitive heat format by SWS and released on social media. Heat results are released 24 hours later after the judging panel decisions and fans votes are calculated.
The top four finalists of the 2-week event will earn a spot in 2021’s epic final, as the SWS World Championship Final invites the globe’s top ranking surfers to battle it out on a world stage in April of the coming year. All four semifinalists of the Surfboard Empire E-Pro Australia will represent their country against participating nations.
The event features prizes of $6,000 (AUD) for the champion, $2,500 (AUD) for the runner-up, $250 (AUD) for semifinalists. Additional spot prizes for the voting fans had massive incentive for the fans to get involved and support their surfer of choice in each round.
Surfboard Empire are naming rights title sponsor of the E-Pro Australia, in addition to key partnerships with: Surfing Life Magazine, Addo Animus Pty Ltd, Ryan Softboards, Getagrip Surf Wax,
SPONSORSHIP PACKAGES FOR SPECIALIST CATEGORIES ARE STILL AVAILABLE THROUGHOUT THE EVENT!
Contact australia@surfwebseries.com for details.
The #EProAustralia is made possible thanks to support from:
SURFBOARD EMPIRE—Australia's biggest surfboard store, stocking: Lost, Mayhem, Firewire, Sharpeye, Pyzel, LSD, MR, Channel Islands, JS, and more.
RYAN SOFTBOARDS -- Gold Coast based Ryan Softboards have donated equipment and prizes for competitors and fans of the #EProAustralia, with voting fans going into the draw to win a brand new board from the Ryan Softboards quiver.
ADDO ANIMUS — Addo Animus Pty Ltd are Australian distributors of the Blazepod Reactive Training System. A specialist digital video analysis and sports tech company. Blazepods are a great addition to your home or professional training set up, and ideal for improving speed and reaction to help your general fitness and surfing performance.
GET A GRIP SURF WAX— Regular surf wax contains harmful petrochemicals that harm our oceans and marine life. As surfers we have a responsibility to help keep our oceans clean and that's why we created GETAGRIP Natural Surf Wax, an environmentally friendly surf wax that is sticky and long lasting. Our 100% natural surf wax is made in small batches at home on the Mid North Coast, NSW Australia. Do mother nature a favour and start making a difference by switching to an all natural surf wax!
SURFING LIFE MAGAZINE— Australia’s Favourite Surf Magazine publishes 6 issues based on the 6 pillars of the surfing experience - Surf Travel, Surf Culture, Waves, Technique, Surfboards and Surfer - each issue dedicated to that subject alone, providing the substance, depth and authority that will have a direct impact on your surfing. Surfing Life is active across six media channels (print, social, online, e-newsletters and events), making it one of the most influential, relevant and in-demand surf brands in Australia.
SURF OPEN LEAGUE—an international platform dedicated to promoting the sport of surfing and its many beaches around the world, founded in México in 2005.
Updates on the E-Pro Australia can be found on the Surf Web Series website: surfwebseries.com/australia
